To celebrate Coventry’s 2021 UK City of Culture status, a new linear park was proposed to run from Naul’s Mill Park, along the route of Radford Brook, to connect with Belgrade Plaza in the city’s theatre quarter.
The area included a redundant 6.5-acre gas works site and a vast, grey, dark underpass area traversing underneath the ring road. All in all, it was not considered a pleasant route in or out of the city centre.
Complex Development Projects, in conjunction with Barton Willmore Landscape Architects presented a stunning vision, comprising of a new green corridor featuring around 1,000 trees and saplings, uncovering of the culverted Radford Brook, a re-naturing of the old boating pond into a new wetland habitat, and an amazing ‘underpark, featuring hard and soft landscaping, to transform the previously intimidating underpass area.
The landscape contract work was awarded to idverde, one of the UK’s leading landscape creation and maintenance providers, who have a long-standing working relationship with Green-tech, the UKs largest supplier of landscaping materials.
Work on planting the 1,000 plus trees began in March 2021, with Green-tech delivering over 1,000 heavy-duty stakes, along with associated buckle ties for safely securing the semi-mature trees.
To ensure the more mature trees remained stable, 250 tree anchors were supplied to anchor trees up to 20cm girth into the ground, using a mix of both wire and strap systems. To ensure adequate irrigation, the larger trees were supplied with Mona Relief irrigation tubes, which allow the maintenance teams to water the trees quickly and efficiently via an easily accessible filler pipe. Any wayward root development within the tree pits will be guided by the installation of Gt RootBarrier RollRib. Made from 100% recycled HDPE, RollRib features specially designed vertical ribs, which stop roots turning in on themselves during growth.
With the planting works well under way, completion is anticipated by early summer, to help support Coventry’s City of Culture year.
This project will not only provide a more sustainable, pleasant environment for pedestrians and cyclists, but it will also create additional bio-diversity and natural habitats for local wildlife.
idverde’s Operations Director idverde Nicola Easdale comments, “We have worked with Green-tech for many years now, and they can always be relied on to deliver what we need, where and when we need it. In these times of material shortages when resources are hard to come by, it’s good to have a commercial partner who can still step up to the mark.”
Roger Amies-King, Green-tech’s Key Account Manager adds, “It is always a pleasure to work with idverde, and to be even a small part of regeneration of this type, transforming previously grey and derelict areas into something green and wonderful, makes our work worthwhile.”
